Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

June 2021 – In the wake of recent mass killings – one incident taking 8 lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and another 10 lives in Boulder, Colorado – named culprits have been plentiful. Racism, white supremacy, and gun control are often front-runners for the negative spotlight in such cases.

However, Movieguide posits there is a different entity to blame: media.

In his book The Media-Wise Family, Movieguide publisher Dr. Ted Baehr discusses the multitude of studies that have been conducted on the link between mass media and violent behavior.

“The power of modeling, practice, and reinforcement in human learning predicts that media violence increases the likelihood of real-life violence,” according to Movieguide.

Baehr pointed out that violence is prolific in a wide variety of media, e.g., comic books, websites, and movies.

“Gun control will not solve issues with mass shootings,” he said, “… only a nation on its knees in repentance can begin to repair the damage. Teaching our children to hold a Christian/biblical worldview will lessen these tragedies as they grow in media wisdom.”

movieguide.org, 3/21